Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Dan Allen Crawley, Dan Allen Crawley Music 2022.
I know very little about Dan Allen Crawley other than he’s an American country artist.
To Kill A Sunrise is a five tack EP firmly in the country-rock sector of the genre, although Dan does lean more toward the traditional country end of the spectrum than many of the recent albums I’ve listened to that present as country rock but are basically straight out rock and roll records.
Dan employs many traditional country-rock instruments in his songs including fiddle, acoustic guitars, honky tonk piano, and bottleneck guitar that provide an authenticity to his music.
The opening track, San Andreas Ain’t My Fault provides a good up-tempo beginning as well as an obvious pun.
It’s probably the most rock orientated track of the five offerings.
The second track, Take It From Me, is possibly the most traditional country track, although the final cut on the disc, You’re Gonna Get It, comes a close second.
Fiddle predominates in Take It From Me providing the solos as well as highlights throughout the song.
All the usual country-rock preoccupations are contained in the lyrical content of the songs on the disc: drinking, loving, fighting, and drinking again, but the songs work well.
The musicianship is excellent and Dan Allen Crawley has just the right twang to his voice to carry it all off.
My favourite track is the fourth one, We Ain’t Fighting Anymore.
Its slow tempo works perfectly to allow the story of lovers, who have reached the point of exhaustion with arguing and fighting, to reflect and choose another path.
If you’re a country music fan I’m sure you’ll enjoy this EP.
